Ant Financial, China's biggest online payments platform, has been in talks with WorldFirst for several months, according to the report.

"We don't comment on market rumors," an Ant Financial spokesperson said, when asked about the report.

WorldFirst did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Sky News report also said that it was unclear whether existing investors would retain a stake in WorldFirst, which was founded in 2004 in the basement of a house in South London. ($1 = 0.7906 pounds) (Reporting by Shashwat Awasthi in Bengaluru; Editing by James Emmanuel)